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Monthly Archives: March 2012

It’s Spring Break and I finally found time to learn to ride a motorcycle. To be honest, motorcycling is harder and much more dangerous than I thought. Totally worth learning though! I had so much fun! I can’t wait to buy my own bike some day :)

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When I first received The Idea Factory in the mail as part of a group of book reviewers who were invited to write about the then not-yet-published non-fiction book, I had no idea what to expect. So, after reading, here’s what I think you can expect:

1. You will be a telephone history expert by the end. Author Jon Gertner certainly has done diligent research in the meticulous development of telephones. I found myself spewing random trivia to my friends about telephones. For example, did you know that in 1915, a three-minute call from New York to California cost the equivalent of $440 dollars today?

2. It’s not easy to read. The author has a background in journalism. Gertner is a contributing author to The New York Times in technology and business. His journalistic style is reflected in The Idea Factory. Each chapter could probably have fit snugly in an informational news article piece found in a section of a business magazine. Because the book is an informational illustration of the development of telephones, there are no suspenseful sequences that one would find in thrillers or even biographies. Therefore, as a reader, you have to push yourself a bit at times turn the page. There are also many esoteric language in the book that are used to describe the intricate technologies that contributed to the evolution of the telecom industry. Wikipedia is your friend when reading this book. The book is also saturated with characters that played a role in the telephone development. At some points, I was confused as to who was who. With that said, you will feel loads smarter after reading the book.

3. This book teaches valuable lessons to aspiring entrepreneurs. The book accounts the endless days of trial and error by thousands of scientists at Bell Labs. Building a successful product at AT&T meant the collision of smart people, timing, hard work, perseverance, and luck. The personal stories of each of the major characters that shaped telephones were some of the most poignant. For example, Mervin Kelly, physicist turned President of Bell Labs, grew up in a small-town that resembled the Wild West.

Ryan and I launched the alpha testing for Fonite.com! I’m letting you all be the first to try it out!

Use the following invite code to get access to the site: 81655

What’s Fonite? Fonite is an advanced caller-ID system for your smartphone. When someone calls you, the incoming call screen will show that person’s latest update (newest Tweet, Facebook status, most recent email exchange you had with them, and user-generated updates on that person). So, when you pick up the call, you won’t forget to wish them a happy birthday or ask how their recent midterm went!

What’s in the alpha? The only feature that we’ve enabled for the alpha testing is writing updates/reviews on phone numbers. You can vote up or down updates on each phone number.

What do you do as an alpha tester? Feel free to navigate around! You can write updates on what’s going on in your life in your Profile. Or, search for a friend’s number and write an update about them! You can also vote up or down updates people have written. Not sure what to write? Check out my Fonite profile by searching for my phone number: 720-261-5933.

Please share your feedback with us! Click on the “Feedback” button. Let us know what you think, what we should add to the mobile app, how you would use Fonite, anything!

2.1 million people die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases because of accessibility problems. Nanoly’s technology enables cheap, convenient, and safe delivery of vaccines to anywhere in the world.

I’ve been working with graduate and undergraduate students at UC Berkeley, Stanford, and University of Colorado School of Medicine on this project. Help us get funding! We are competing in Dell’s Social Innovation Challenge.

Gamma Phi Beta has been a huge part of life ever since I joined the sorority my freshman year in college. The positive environment and strong values of the organization is a great place for any young female. I am incredibly honored to be featured in the Winter 2011 magazine. You can view the full magazine here: http://digital.publicationprinters.com/publication/?i=99260